


Missing Moments

by mairelon



Category: JONES Diana Wynne - Works, The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21830896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mairelon/pseuds/mairelon
Summary: Missing scenes from Charmed Life in which the Castle staff discuss the Gwendolyn/Janet and Eric problem.
Comments: 20
Kudos: 83
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Missing Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bropunzeling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bropunzeling/gifts).



“Any other business?” Miss Rosalie asked during the weekly staff meeting on Friday afternoon.

“I have the signed contract here from Catriona Larkins accepting our offer of employment as an undercover agent,” said Bernard, handing an envelope over to Miss Rosalie. “Catriona also told me two pieces of gossip that is going around Wolvercote.”

“Catriona?” asked Millie knowingly.

Bernard blushed. “Miss Larkins said I could call her by her given name when I was helping her set up her new salon earlier this week.”

“And will you also be calling on her in addition to calling her by given name?” teased Michael.

“There is no point in me calling on her,” said Bernard reasonably. “Mordecai will be her main contact going forward.”

They all looked at Bernard in disbelief. Millie resolved to have a private word with Bernard after the meeting was over regarding courtship signals given by women.

“Moving back to business,” said Bernard squirming under everyone’s gaze. “The first item of information is that the Nostrum brothers are plotting something against the government. About a month ago, one of the Nostrum brothers approached Catriona and her father hinting that it was time for the hedge witches and warlocks to demand their rights. She and her father disclaimed any interest in joining their conspiracy so she doesn't have any further details of the plot.”

They all considered that. “Mordecai, please have Miss Larkins contact Nostrum saying that she changed her mind about joining the conspiracy and see what she can find out,” said Christopher.

“The second item is that a fortune-teller in Wolvercote foretold that Gwendolyn will rule the world,” said Bernard.

“There is something highly unusual going on with Gwendolyn,” said Michael. “She has been strangely cheerful but nervous since I removed her magic the other night.”

“Cheerful?” chorused everyone.

“Cheerful,” repeated Michael. “In a joking and giggly manner whenever she is not jumping nervously when I ask her a question.”

“Gwendolyn doesn’t seem the type to giggle or get nervous,” said Millie.

“Eric is more the nervous type,” said Christopher. “When I talked to him this morning about joining Julia and Roger in their magic lessons on Monday, he looked as if I told him we were feeding him to a dragon on Monday. What is it about the idea of starting magic lessons that is scaring him?”

“Eric does reasonably well at most of his lessons,” said Michael. “Unlike Gwendolyn. Did you know that she couldn’t find the Cathay Empire or Atlantis on the globe? Nor does she know what the Maratha-Prussian War is about.”

“I didn’t know any of those things when I was her age,” said Millie trying to be fair.

“But you didn’t grow up in this world,” said Christopher.

“You had a good excuse,” said Michael. “Gwendolyn is just astoundingly ignorant.”

Millie jumped up and dashed to the scrying mirror. “What if that is not actually Gwendolyn?” she asked. “I was talking to her yesterday, and the way she talked and the way she walked – it was like she was a completely different person.”

Millie used the mirror to check in on Gwendolyn’s room, but there was no one in there at the moment. Scrying Eric instead, the mirror showed Eric and Gwendolyn in Eric’s room playing a game with a mirror hanging in midair.

“Clever game,” said Michael as they watched Eric and Gwendolyn jump off his dresser and swing across the room to his bed while dangling from the mirror. “And a very strong levitation spell on that mirror so that it holds both of their weight.”

“How many times have I told Eric that he is not to practice magic on his own?” asked Christopher.

However, the mirror stayed stubbornly blank when Millie tried to scry Gwendolyn.

“The mirror would show Gwendolyn if she is anywhere inside the Castle grounds,” said Millie. “This means that girl in Eric’s room is not Gwendolyn.”

Millie and Christopher set up several increasingly complex scrying spells to track down Gwendolyn. In the end, they tracked her down to a palace in world 12I. They peered down into the bowl of ink to see Gwendolyn holding court in a vast throne room with hundreds of bowing courtiers.

“I see that the Wolvercote fortune-teller was correct in her fortune,” said Bernard.

* * *

“What happened?” Millie asked in alarm when Christopher entered her dressing room on Saturday evening. “Are you alright? Your clothes are singed.”

Christopher sank wearily onto her dressing table chair. Karith, one of the Castle cats, jumped onto his lap and proceeded to fall asleep. Millie snuggled down next to Christopher and he wrapped his free arm around her.

“Janet summoned me because Eric – actually he prefers to be called Cat rather than Eric,” said Christopher. “Janet summoned me because Cat set himself on fire. He struck the match containing his sixth life and promptly erupted in flames.”

“Oh, no! Poor Eric. Should I go check in on him?”

“Not now. When I left, he was on the verge of falling asleep and Eulalia and Janet were busy cosseting him.”

“Euphemia, not Eulalia,” corrected Millie. “Wait a second – Eric’s sixth life is contained in a match?”

Christopher pulled a matchbook from his pocket and handed it to Millie. “All his lives are contained in here. As you can see, he only has three lives left.”

Millie studied the matchbook. “How did Eric’s lives …” her voiced trailed off. “Gwendolyn did this?” she asked fiercely.

Christopher nodded. “I don’t think Eric had any idea. Janet suspected what this matchbook was and blurted out all her suspicions to Eri – Cat. Cat didn’t believe her and struck a match to prove her wrong. Thankfully, Janet is a sensible girl. She keeps her head in a crisis and summoned me.”

“Janet is wonderful,” agreed Millie. “I would love to have her stay but she must be missing her parents. Gwendolyn, though, will regret all her life decisions once I get my hands on her.” Millie stated this calmly but Christopher was reminded of the time a silver spear thrown by one of the Arms of Asheth had killed him in Series Ten.

“Luckily, Janet didn’t guess who placed the lives in the matchbook so she didn’t share that suspicion with Cat. Cat is not yet ready to face the truth about his sister.”

* * *

No one was especially hungry at dinner on Sunday evening due to the late lunch but the Castle staff cooked their usual elaborate dinner. Conversation at Christopher’s end of the table focused on the events of the afternoon mostly because Julia and Roger wanted to rehash every detail of their battles.

“After that, I made his cravat strangle him until he turned blue and lost consciousness,” said Julia.

“Did you see the part where I cast the heaviness spell on that warlock?” asked Roger. “He weighed about a thousand pounds and couldn’t get back up again.”

Janet listened attentively to their stories since she had missed the entire battle, but Cat was quiet and withdrawn.

“Are you alright?” Christopher quietly asked Cat. “I’ll make Roger and Julia stop talking if their stories are upsetting you.”

“No, I’m not upset,” said Cat.

“But something is bothering you.”

“I was just wondering if – well, if Gwendolyn had anything to do with the steamboat accident and our parents dying.”

Christopher blinked. He was not expecting that but perhaps it was natural considering all the other revelations of the day. “No, Cat,” he said gently. “A big disaster like that – everybody checked to make sure that it was positively an accident and not sabotage, whether magical or mechanical. The police checked. The insurance company double-checked. And I sent one of my agents to Wolvercote right after the accident to make sure there was no magic involved. It was a tragic accident, but it was just an accident.”

Cat nodded. He didn’t say anything further about that but asked for a second helping of sponge cake.


End file.
